


The Exception

by nerdzeword



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: EWE, F/M, Fluff, Waffles, oblivious!hermione
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 14:23:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11738871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdzeword/pseuds/nerdzeword
Summary: Draco Malfoy has one rule. But just like in everything else in his life, Hermione Granger seems to be the exception.





	The Exception

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in two days, three months apart. Needless to say, it's been a weird summer.  
> As always, Characters are JK's and I only borrow them.  
> Enjoy!

Draco knew it was a bad idea from the first kiss. But then again, he’d known it was a bad idea with all of those other girls too. But Granger? Granger was a new low. Attachment issues, that’s what his father called it. His mother called it love, but Draco didn’t really think that one night stands constituted love. Not that he had very much experience with love of course. 

The fact remained however, that he would partake in one night stands with girls who were obviously of like mind, wake up, and suddenly find himself wanting to take them to breakfast rather than slipping out. This was an obvious problem for him, as he had a reputation to uphold as the aloof sex god, not some peasant who couldn’t keep a girlfriend. (Unlike a certain Weasley that he could mention.) No, Draco Malfoy didn’t  _ do  _ dating. So every morning he would get up, gather his clothes, resist the urge to take whatever her name was to brunch, and apparate home to wallow in loneliness.

Then Draco found himself in bed with Hermione Granger. Unlike the rest of his bed partners, he had a history with Granger. She was the girl he tormented, but secretly envied, in school. The girl who punched him in the face third year. The girl who worked with him occasionally, when he had business in the ministry. The girl he had watched from a distance as she drowned herself further and further into work. And the girl he had watched from a foot away as she confessed all of her problems into her drink before snogging him senseless. Hermione was the one witch with whom he could say he had the most history. Which meant he just broke his one rule. Big Time.

Now he had a decision to make. He could pretend they didn’t have a history, and he didn’t just break the one rule. Which would undoubtedly make her very mad, causing her to stop trusting him, and tearing both their professional relationship, and tentative friendship to pieces. 

He could also pretend to be asleep, let her ‘wake up first’, thus placing the decision entirely on her shoulders. Which, while not the worst plan, was not the best either, and could use some improvement. Or. He could give in, and let the voice in his head take over. He could wake her up and take her to breakfast. 

Before he knew it, Draco was sitting up in the bed, not even caring if he jostled her. Now that he was a bit more awake, he noticed that he was in his own room instead of hers. Which was odd in itself. Then he noticed that she was still wearing her underclothes, and it occurred to him just what had happened the night before. 

 

_ Hermione Granger sat at the bar by herself, the christmas lights that were strung around the room twinkling mockingly at her hunched form. But despite her lack of posture, Draco would recognize her bushy head anywhere. He sat down beside her, and ordered a firewhiskey as well. She was on her way to being very, very drunk. _

_ “Wotcher, Granger. Christmas do something to piss you off?” she hiccupped slightly before turning to answer him. Her makeup was smeared, and her face blotchy. _

_ “No, Draco. Ronald did. And me too I suppose.” Draco took a swig of his drink and eyed her closely. Despite the tear tracks and the red eyes, she didn’t look sad. Just bitter and angry. He raised an eyebrow.  _

_ “Oh really, what did Weasley do this time?” _

_ “Asked me out.” She replied bitterly. His eyebrow rose even higher. _

_ “Didn’t he do that like two years ago?” she threw her arms into the air and Draco was suddenly sorry he asked.  _

_ “Exactly! I just wish he had never done it at all, because now he’s gone and made it awkward for everyone! If he hadn’t asked me out, I wouldn’t have said yes in the heat of the moment and would have eventually come to the conclusion that I came to two months into our relationship. Ron and I were just not meant to be. Meaning that I wouldn’t feel weird about spending Christmas at the Burrow, and I wouldn’t have to spend Christmas so damned lonely!” Draco blinked at her slowly. _

_ “Leave it to you to be a contemplative drunk. You’re not going to be a very fun drinking partner at all!” She looked offended. _

_ “I’ll have you know I am very fun,  _ Malfoy _.” _

_ “You’re fun when you are sober and can actually hold a conversation, Granger. But when you’re really drunk and can’t even talk without going on tangents, no.” She tilted her head to the side and studied him, and Draco suddenly felt the need to blush. He shoved it down. Malfoys didn’t blush.  _

_ “You know, Malfoy, I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” She told him after a moment.  _

_ “Don’t get used to it Granger.” _

_ “Do you want to be my friend?” she blurted out. Draco just stared at her. _

 

Looking back, Draco had obviously taken her up on her offer because when she fell off her stool while getting up, he had reached out to catch her automatically. And helped her collect her things. And refused to let her go home by herself since he couldn’t be sure that she would be able to say the residence name properly in her inebriated state. Which is, he supposed, how he found her in his bed at the present. 

Hermione rolled over and shoved her face in the pillow, groaning loudly. Draco smirked. That’s what she got for getting completely shit faced on Christmas. 

“Morning, Granger.” She blinked up at him slowly, and Draco was in awe of how he could tell exactly when she finally registered who he was. Her mouth opened into a little O shape and she started blinking even faster. 

“Draco.” For her part though, she recovered quickly, only pausing to gape at him for a moment before pushing herself up onto her elbows to look at him properly.

“Care for breakfast?” He asked her cheerily, climbing out of bed, still dressed in his pajama pants and cotton t-shirt.

“Um. Sure?” She looked at him quizzically, but her face held a small smile.

 

_________________________________________________________

 

“Hey Granger, want to go to lunch with me?” Draco stuck his head around her office door. She looked up from whatever saving people project she was working on now and stared at him. 

“What?”

“Lunch, Granger. Usually the second meal of the day, meant to be eaten as a group? Surely you’ve heard of it.” Draco wasn’t sure why he was asking her to lunch now. Beyond the fact that he had very few friends, and he was in the area. No, after the breakfast debacle of the week before, Draco had sworn off all women until he could figure out his ‘attachment issues.’ Including- no, _ especially _ Granger. 

Yet here he was.

Still breaking his one rule.

 

_________________________________________________________

 

It wasn’t even a full week before he dropped by her office again, this time with takeout. 

“Join me?” Draco hoped she said yes because there was no way he could eat all of the takeout by himself. He needn’t have worried, she eagerly accepted and they spent her entire lunch hour and then some sitting on the floor of her office eating takeout and discussing her many, many projects. Draco had no idea why she needed so many projects at a time, but he wasn’t going to piss her off. Well, not today.

 

_________________________________________________________

 

It was six months of lunches and the occasional dinner that Draco decided that it was no use feeling guilty, after all, rules were made to be broken right? Besides, Granger was now essentially his best friend, there was no use denying that he was somewhat fond of her anymore was there? But his real reason for dropping the charade was the event he was taking her to later that night, yeah sure he had told her he was taking her to this ministry event to help her get contacts for whatever saving people mission she was on now, but his motives were much more sinister in reality. This was to be a date, and it was going to be perfect. 

He thought he had a good head start on that part seeing how excited Granger had been at the thought of going to what he thought was a boring event. He didn’t dare let her on to the real plan. What if she hated him for it? 

As usual, he needn’t have worried, Hermione didn’t suspect a thing, and they both ended up having the time of their lives, though on Draco’s part it was mainly because she looked stunning in her purple cocktail dress

 

_______________________________________________________

 

“The Weasley’s invited me to their Christmas dinner on Friday.” she told him, her head lying in his lap as she read her book. Draco rolled his eyes at the fact that she was even considering going to the stupid Weasel party still, when it was obvious she didn’t want to go at all. Unlike Hermione, he wasn’t a fan of doing anything he didn’t feel like doing. Although, he had accepted long ago that Hermione was the one exception to the rule. 

“No can do Granger, we had a date on Friday, remember? I already have reservations and everything.” 

“Date?” Welp. Guess the cat was out of the bag now. He opted to play it cool.

“Yes, Date. You know, that thing that two people do when they like each other and want to spend time together? Honestly Granger, they say you’re smart!” She sat up suddenly and whirled around to face him.

“That wasn’t a date Draco. It was a- a friendly get together!” Draco snorted.

“And I’m the muggle prime minister. Honestly Hermione, it’s not the end of the world, it’s just one-”

“Just what Draco? It won’t work! You and me? We're like oil and water. We don't mix. Just look at what happened last time!” Draco rolled his eyes internally at her monologue. For such a smart person, she was incredibly oblivious. He wondered if he should mention to her that her two best friends had already given him the boyfriend talk. He decided to wait a bit yet.

“Granger. What are the two ingredients you add to pancake batter in order to make waffles?”

“How would you know how to make waffles?”

“Answer the question Granger.”

“Oil and water.”

“Right. I'm not saying it will work out, but maybe life is our pancake batter and all we need is a little stir in order to become delicious waffles.”

“You're comparing our nonexistent relationship to waffles?” 

“You should be honored Granger. I love waffles. I don't compare just anything to them you know.” She stared at him as if he had lost his mind. 

“Fine. One date. But that’s it!” Draco opted not to tell her that they had already been on more dates than he had been on with all of the other girls he’d been with combined. Let her live in her own little world a bit longer. Besides, it was no matter to him, he would have invited her to dinner whether it were a ‘date’ or not.

___________________________________________________

 

Draco picked Hermione up from her apartment, per the norm and was pleasantly stunned when he opened the door to realize that she had taken the time and effort to put her hair up and wear a dress. It looked beautiful on her, hugging her curves and flowing out at the bottom, but Draco thought that she almost looked better in her stupid patterned pajamas that she wore every time they had a movie night. 

“You look beautiful.” Hermione eyed him suspiciously

“You’re just saying that because this is a date.”

“Since when have I ever bothered holding back my true opinions? I’m offended. Just for that I’m not going to tell you where the smudge on your face is.”

“What?! What smudge?” Draco shook his head smugly

“Nope.”

“What kind of smudge is it?” Draco started to lead her towards the apparation point as she panicked.

“I dunno. It looks like eyeliner or something.” Draco shrugged and hid a grin at her moans of annoyance. They had nearly made it to the apparation point before Hermione suddenly stopped in her tracks, knocking Draco a bit off balance. 

“Draco. I’m not even wearing makeup today.” Draco tried to smother his grin, but he had a feeling he wasn’t very successful. His suspicions were confirmed when she hit him in the arm.

“Prat!” Draco grinned back at her, even as he rubbed his arm. She had a mean punch. 

________________________________________________________

 

“So. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hermione ventured as they walked back to the apparation point, “That was just like every other dinner we’ve been on. Just slightly better food.” Draco shot her an unimpressed look. For the smartest witch of their age, she was really very dense. 

“Yes. One would say that the only thing that changed was the title of the outing.” He commented dryly. Draco watched her for a full minute before he began to wonder if he would have to spell it out for her. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that, she would no doubt take offense at it, and he would have to spend his ungodly fortune on buying out a greenhouse in order to make her forgive him. Honestly, that didn’t sound like the worst idea ever anyway. He luckily wouldn’t have to resort to spending his ridiculous fortune on flowers, as Hermione finally stopped walking and turned to look at him, once again knocking Draco off balance.

“Are you telling me-”

“That we’ve been dating for the past year? Yes. Yes I am.” She stared at him for another full minute.

“And I didn’t even notice?”

“I thought for sure I was going to have to actually tell you at some point.”

“How did I not notice?”

“Because, my dear, you are always so busy saving everyone else, that you never make time for yourself.”

“Wait. How long have you called me ‘dear’?”

“Since around March I think.”

“Seriously. How did I not notice that we’ve been dating since March?”

“We’ve been dating since like New Years Hermione, please try to keep up.” Draco was actually feeling rather good about how this conversation was going. She hadn’t hexed him yet, which was a good start. They had started walking again at some point, but Hermione stopped suddenly, once again knocking Draco off balance. He would really have to talk to her about doing that.

“Draco. What on earth does everyone else think?”

“That we’re dating.”

“But we don’t act like we’re- Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Hermione, we hold hands whenever we leave the house, we attend Ministry functions together, we have lunch in your office three or four times a week. I can guarantee you, that lunch is not what most people would assume we’re doing.”

“I hold hands with Harry and Ron all the time!” She threw her hands in the air.

“Yes, but they’re your best friends, and both of them are married at any rate. Us? Not so much.”

“Yes, but-”

“Hermione. Why is this so hard for you to believe? Hell, Potter and Weasley have already threatened me within an inch of my life if I hurt you. Not that I stupid enough to hurt you. Besides, I’m much more afraid of you than I am of them.” She stared at him for a full minute before throwing her hands in the air again.

“We haven’t even kissed yet!” Draco didn’t miss the ‘yet’ that was tacked onto her sentence, and he had to force himself not to grin like a loon. This was progress.

“Well if that’s what you’re worried about.” Draco dropped a caste kiss on her lips.

“That was not an invitation Draco!” she shrieked. Draco considered telling her to calm down. But he remembered the last time he did that, and decided against it. He had thought Ginny Weasley had a good bat boogey hex. It had nothing on Hermione’s. 

“That wasn’t even our first kiss, Granger. Remember last Christmas?” Hermione buried her face in her hands. 

“That was you?”

“Yup.”

“I thought it was just some random bloke in the bar.”

“Nope.”

“You are enjoying my mortification far too much.”

“You call it mortification. I call it the best day of my life. It did lead me to my best friend after all.” Her head shot up.

“I’m your best friend?”

“Granger, you’re my only friend.” He pondered for a moment. “Well, unless you count how chummy Potter and his wife have been getting. But I wouldn’t call that friendship, it’s just bizarre.” She stared at him for a moment longer.

“It’s like I don’t even know you.”

“Please. You know me better than anyone.” she started walking again, shoving her hands in her pockets and staring down at her feet, as they waded through the quickly accumulating snow. Draco followed her. Had it been too much? It had been too much. Oh hell. What if she was going to leave him now? He didn’t know if he could go back to his boring and Grangerless existence. He had to fix this. He  _ had  _ to. Draco was about to open his mouth and apologize when Hermione finally stopped again. He actually ran into her this time, knocking them both to the ground. 

“Cold cold cold.” Draco muttered as he tried to get all of the snow away from him. Merlin he hated snow. He stopped when he realized that Hermione was just sitting in it. Staring at him. Draco stared back, a bit fearful of the look in her eye. She reached out and brushed some snow from his hair, letting her fingers trail across his face. Draco had to suppress a shudder. Her fingers were really cold. And he meant  _ really  _ cold. If she was going to insist on touching him with her frozen fingers, he was going to insist she start wearing gloves. How did she not have frostbite, with hands that cold?

“You spent an entire year dating me, even though you knew I didn’t like you back?”

“Well, I figured that if you  _ really  _ didn’t like me back, you would just stop hanging out with me. And of course I did, you daft woman. I love you. I would have dated you without your knowledge forever if I had to. Although I really hoped it wouldn’t come to that. I really miss getting laid. And honestly Hermione, can we  _ please  _ have this conversation anywhere but here? Preferably somewhere where it’s warm. And I’m not going to get snow-”

“You love me?”

“ _ Yes. _ Merlin Granger I just said that.” She knotted her hands in the front of his coat and dragged him forward to meet their lips. Draco kissed her back with all the grace of a drowning man seeking air. Merlin, he had missed snogging. He broke off the kiss after a moment. 

“Seriously though Granger. I think I may be getting frostbite.” She just laughed and helped him to his feet, leading them back to her place. 

___________________________________________________

  
When Draco woke up the next morning, much in the same position as he had the year before, (although, with much less clothes. He had checked.) Draco thanked his lucky stars that he had broken his one rule, because, as it turned out, waking up next to someone you loved was  _ much _ better than some one night stand. And, it turned out that girls you had a history with, actually made the best girlfriends.


End file.
